Red, White and Blue Potato Salad

Not your ordinary potato salad! This is what I love about cooking...taking a recipe that I've seen a million times, especially as a child in the summer, and adding something different to make it a whole new world.

Ingredients: 6-7 red bliss potatoes, 1/2 c. mayonnaise, 1/2 c. light/no fat sour cream, 1/3 c. blue cheese crumbles, squirt of lemon juice, scallions. The real "red" in the name comes from chopped bacon pieces so add if you like, but you can't call low fat anymore.

Directions: Wash potatoes thoroughly (you can keep skin on or not). Boil water and cut potatoes into small cubes. Boil until cooked soft (about 7 minutes). Drain and rinse in cold water for a few minutes. Mix in sour cream and mayonnaise, a squirt of lemon, chopped scallions, and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
Adjust ingredients according to taste- I prefer less "dressing" but others prefer adding a little cayenne pepper or tabasco for some kick.

Curry Chicken Salad

Spice up your typical chicken salad with this flavorful variation.

Ingredients:1 1/2 c. chopped chicken breasts cooked, 1/3 c. of your favorite nuts (almonds and walnuts work best), 1/3 c. of your favorite dried fruit (I love dried cherries), 3 tbsp low fat mayonnaise, 1/2 stp lemon juice, 1/2 tsp curry powder, sprinkle of salt and pepper.

Directions: Cook chicken in sauce pan with 2 tbsp of water and cover on over medium heat until cooked all the way through. Chop chicken into small cubes. Once cooled, mix in nuts and fruit. In a separate bowl, mix together mayonnaise, lemon juice, and curry powder. The mix into chicken. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Serve over spinach as a salad or in a sandwich. Also good over (whole wheat) English Muffins as an open faced sandwich.

Creamy Pesto Gnocchi

I've been dreaming of having a really nice food processor to make homemade pesto forever and the joy of having a registry has made that dream come true! I honestly like the original pesto better, but Jase is a boy and doesn't have to worry about fat so he likes it creamy. This forced me (shh, don't tell him) to find a recipe that didn't include butter and/or heavy whipping cream and I must have done a good job, because he didn't notice. I cheated and bought the tri-colored gnocchi making this a super easy recipe.

Ingredients: 1/3 c. walnuts finely chopped, 1/2 c. olive oil, 3 cloves garlic, 2 c. fresh basil leaves, 1 8 oz container of low fat sour cream, 1/4 c. parmesan cheese, 1 pkg of gnocchi.

Directions: Cook pasta or gnocchi according to instructions. Pulse walnuts until fine pieces then add basil, garlic, and olive oil pulsing until smooth. Move mixture to a skillet and heat on medium heat then add sour cream and parmesan cheese. That's it!

Other Options:
Skip the sour cream and cheese all together. The original pesto is fabulous.
Mix into mashed potatoes or pour over a baked potato
Stir in a risotto
Use as a sandwich or burger spread
Add to scrambled eggs
Mix original pesto with cream cheese and spread on a bagel
Make brushetta and top with pesto and tomatoes
Add to grilled veggies
Use as a chicken marinade
Dollop over a nice grilled fish

Guiltless Chocolate Brownies with Raspberries and White Chocolate

I don't throw the words "guiltless" and "chocolate" together easily or without caution. This recipe was inspired from (or copied from) the TV show "Cook Yourself Thin" and has an amazing secret ingredient. We've all heard the healthy adaptations that blow kid's minds when you tell them their chocolate cake has zucchini in it or their cup cakes have apple sauce...this recipe will do the same!

Ingredients:
1 c fresh raspberries, 2 c. butternut squash peeled and finely grated, 1 handful of white chocolate chips if you want to keep this guiltless (2 if you don't care), 1 c. ground almonds, 1 1/4 c. sugar, 3 medium eggs, 1/4 self rising flour, 1/2 c cocoa powder, 1 tsp baking powder, 1/4 tsp salt.

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spray pan with cooking spray, or use parchment paper to save calories. Beat eggs and sugar in large mixing bowl for 4-5 minutes until BIG and fluffy. Add butternut squash, ground almonds, flour, salt, and baking powder until well mixed. Pour half of this mixture into pan and sprinkle raspberries and white chips on top. Cover with remaining brownie mixture. Cook for 20 minutes then cool in the pan for 20 minutes.

Need an amazing way to save time on this recipe? Buy Trader Joe's No Pudge Brownie Mix, all you have to do is add vanilla yogurt. This is a much thicker recipe so you'll need to use a small square pan to spread 1/2 the mixture, add the raspberries and white chocolate, then add the other 1/2 of the mixture and spread the best you can.

Chicken Picatta

This is one of my favorite meals to order in the North End of Boston, Italian's finest, but I found the recipe to be a close second. For being given that kind of standard, it is VERY easy to make. This goes nicely with whole wheat pasta so cook according to directions on box.

Ingredients:
1 lb of chicken cutlets (thin cuts works best, but you can pound them if they're not), 1/2 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp pepper, flour, 3 tbsp butter, 2 tbsp olive oil, 1/2 c chicken broth, 1/3 c of lemon juice- about 2 lemons (I always add more because I like it extra lemony), 1/4 c dry white wine, 1/4 c capers drained and rinsed, 2 tbs parsley.

Directions:
Sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper. Dredge in flour and set aside. Heat butter and olive oil to med heat and add the chicken in batches. Cook 3 minutes each side until lightly browned, then set aside. When finished cooking all the chicken, add chicken broth, lemon juice, white wine, and capers to the pan and heat to a boil, then simmer. Add chicken and cook another 5 minutes until chicken is cooked through. Place chicken over pasta and pour the sauce on top. I like to sprinkle a little parmesan cheese on top.

Spinach and Cheese Pinwheels

I made this recipe up because I had random cuts of puff pastry leftover from the Beef Wellington. Super easy. Great as a side, appetizer, or for entertaining.

Ingredients: puff pastry defrosted, chopped spinach, crumbled blue cheese, walnuts. Measurements will vary based on how much puff pastry you have left. I just started with a small bowl and added handfuls when I ran out.

Directions: If available, cut puff pastry into long 1 in wide strips. I used the leftover triangles and squares cut off from the Beef Wellington and used those too, just making triangle/square shaped pockets. Chop up spinach or swiss chard. Mix in crumbled cheese and nuts. Pour mixture onto puff pastry then carefully roll it up away from you into a roll. Place down on baking dish and bake for 10 minutes at 425.

Modified Beef Wellington

Jason's birthday dinner was something I thought you could only find in French restaurants, but recently found it's way to my kitchen. Instead of a liver pate (haven't got there with my adventuring to try anything), I switched in mushrooms, onions, and a strong cheese.

Ingredients: small cuts of filet mignon (these were huge at about .4 lbs.) I would recommend a 1/2 lb cut in half, 1 package of puff pastry sheets, 1/3 c. chopped mushrooms, 1/3 c. chopped onions, 2 tbsp crumbled blue cheese or gorgonzola, 1 egg.

Directions: Rub filet mignon with butter and bake at 425 for 10-15 minutes. While cooking saute mushrooms and onions in 1 tbsp olive oil, or steam in water. Set aside in a bowl and mix cheese in. Lay defrosted puff pastry sheets out flat.  Cut the pastry to the size you would guesstimate would wrap evenly around the filet. Place filet in center and cover with mushroom, onion, and cheese mixture. Gently wrap puff pastry around filet being careful not to tear the pastry or have areas that are too thick. Cut off any excess and see my next recipe for what to do with the leftovers. Whip one egg and brush over top of pastry then cut a few small slits in the top. Bake at 450 for 10 minutes then reduce heat to 425 and cook 10 more minutes.